Embodiments of the present disclosure are related to combustion engines, and more particularly to systems and methods for improving the efficiency of combustion engines.
In most vehicles or power generation systems, a combustible fuel is burned in an engine to generate thermal energy. The thermal energy may be converted into mechanical energy or electrical energy. Alternatively, the thermal energy may be utilized to provide a thrust to move the vehicle. For burning the fuel, the engine may include a combustion chamber or combustor into which compressed (i.e., high temperature and pressure) air is introduced. Further, a fuel injector may be employed to spray a fuel such as pulverized coal, natural gas, liquefied propane gas, diesel, kerosene, or petrol into the combustion chamber for ignition. In some systems, because of the high temperature and pressure of the compressed air within the combustion chamber, the fuel may self-combust. Alternatively, the combustion chamber may include an igniter such as a spark plug to ignite the fuel. Combustion of the fuel may expand the gases within the combustion chamber, thereby increasing the pressure of the gases and causing the gases to escape from an outlet of the combustion chamber with force. This force may be utilized to move various parts of the engine, provide the thrust required to push the vehicle forward, or generate electric power.
Engineers have attempted to optimize fuel spray characteristics such as spray trajectory, spray diameter, and spray velocity and/or the interaction of the fuel spray with the chamber sidewalls to improve the efficiency of the engine and reduce toxic emissions. If the fuel is sprayed such that the fuel clings onto the sidewalls of the combustion chamber, the ignition of the fuel or the expansion of the gases within the combustion chamber may not be optimal. Further, a relatively small diameter of the fuel spray may result in the fuel droplets clinging to one another and forming larger droplets, which may in turn cause the fuel droplets to ignite at different times instead of igniting simultaneously. The spray diameter is generally representative of the distance between the furthest fuel droplets along the furthest plane from the fuel injector. Presently available fuel injectors rely on the diameter of the nozzles in the fuel injector, the spacing and placement of the nozzles, or the placement of the injector to optimize spray characteristics.